Paranormal Activity 4
Begins with the sound of crickets which suggests a normality and also a location with a date which creates a fear as there is a sense of 'realness' to the story. The fact that the first shot is during the night from the angle of a security camera suggests that the characters in this film do not feel safe in their own home.
The trailer continues with showing an image of the entrance to the house during the night which further empathises the feeling of being unsafe. There is also a time in the bottom right hand corner which shows the audience that this is being shot as if it is from another security camera. The muffled sound from the camera recording the entrance hall suggests that it is being tampered with, this is further reinforced by a character saying 'Katie' as if 'Katie' is unexpected. 'Katie' then throws the other female character who is holding the child into the wall implying that this woman is sub-human and has the ability to do damage without hassle. The fact that Katie takes the child away and 'Katie and Hunter's whereabouts remained unknown' shows that Katie did in fact come to take Hunter from his home and is not planning on returning him to his family.
The trailer continues with 'until now' suggesting to the audience that Katie and Hunter have been found. It then shows a close up shot of a blonde girl laying on a bed, inferring that she is a main protagonist in the story. The young girl is always shown as if she is being recorded by her laptop, further empathising the idea of home video recording. The police sirens, flashing lights and the blonde girl running towards a window to see what is going on is suggestive of the idea that bad things do not normally happen there, making her fear heighten.
'That's the new neighbours house' when referring to the home where the police is situated infers that the problem started when they moved into town, this reminds the audience of Katie and Hunter from the first sequence and make them question whether it could be them. The young blonde girls family is then continued to be filmed by the blonde girls handheld camera, again giving the trailer a sense of 'realness' which empathises the horror, as it is suggestive of the fact that it could happen to anyone.
The close ups of the blonde girl from her 'laptop' create fear for the audience as we are not sure what is happening as all we can see are her facial reactions. The unknowing creates the most fear as the audience is constantly looking behind the girl to try and see if they can see anyone approaching her. The fact that the girl calls out for 'mum' gives her a sense of vulnerability and makes the audience sympathise with her.
Shaking lights and closing doors all create terror and is also something that I believe would be reasonably easy to recreate for my own horror trailer.
'I don't think it was an accident' and 'It's really weird' further empathise the idea of a supernatural being that is situated in their home.
The trailer ends with the young girl and her boyfriend trying to figure out what is happening to her little brother and their new neighbour, however it is not until the end of the trailer that we see the real destruction this supernatural being is capable of. However, although we do not see the outcome for the blonde girl, from the screaming and shots of Katie coming towards her we can tell that it doesn't end well. This ending creates interest and makes the audience want to see the film.
From this trailer I have learnt that there are 3 stages of a trailer:
1) Shows the protagonist before anything abnormal/terrifying happens.
2) Shows that all is not what it seems and that the protagonist realises something is wrong.
3) The protagonist is proved that she was right and nothing is okay.
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